European Patent Application 0161393 by O'Handley (1981), entitled “Low Magnetostriction Amorphous Metal Alloys”, discloses Ni—Co-based alloys bearing, among other elements, Mn, Cr, P, B, that are capable of forming ultra-thin magnetic objects that are partially amorphous. Alloys disclosed therein that included Mn and Cr had to also include Co, as the O'Handley alloys were designed to create magnetic materials and Co is the only element included in the O'Handley alloys that would make the partially amorphous material magnetic. O'Handley's magnetic materials were only formed in the form of ultra-thin ribbons, splats, wires, etc., and required ultra-high cooling rates (on the order of 105 K/s) to partially form the amorphous phase.
Bulk-glass forming Ni—Cr—Nb—P—B glasses capable of forming bulk metallic glass rods with diameters of 3 mm or greater have been disclosed in the following applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/592,095, entitled “Bulk Nickel-Based Chromium and Phosphorous Bearing Metallic Glasses”, filed on Aug. 22, 2012, and U.S. Patent Application No. 61/720,015, entitled “Bulk Nickel-Based Chromium and Phosphorous Bearing Metallic Glasses with High Toughness”, filed on Oct. 30, 2012, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In these applications, Ni-based compositions with a Cr content of between 5 and 9 atomic percent, Nb content of between 3 and 4 atomic percent, B content of about 3 atomic percent, and P content of about 16.5 atomic percent, are capable of forming bulk metallic glass rods with diameters as large as 11 mm or larger. In these earlier applications it was also disclosed that Mn can partially substitute Ni and/or Cr without significantly affecting glass-forming ability.
Bulk-glass forming Ni—Cr—Ta—P—B glasses capable of forming bulk metallic glass rods with diameters of 3 mm or greater have been disclosed in another recent application: U.S. Patent Application No. 61/726,740, entitled “Bulk Nickel-Phosphorus-Boron Glasses bearing Chromium and Tantalum”, filed on Nov. 15, 2012, the disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In that earlier application, Ni-based compositions with a Cr content of between 6 and 10 atomic percent, Ta content of between 2.5 and 3 atomic percent, B content of about 3 atomic percent, and P content of about 16.5 atomic percent, were capable of forming bulk metallic glass rods with diameters as large as 7 mm or larger. In this earlier application it was also disclosed that up to 2 atomic percent of Mn can be included in the composition as a replacement for either Ni or Cr without significantly affecting glass-forming ability.
U.S. Patent Application No. 61/847,955, entitled “Bulk Nickel-Phosphorus-Boron Glasses bearing Molybdenum and Niobium”, filed on Oct. 8, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, disclosed In another application, glass forming Ni—Mo—Nb—P—B alloys. Those alloys comprise Mo in the range of 1 to 5 atomic percent, Nb in the range of 3 to 5 atomic percent, P in the range of 16 to 17 atomic percent, and B in the range of 2.75 and 3.75 atomic percent. In this earlier application it was disclosed that an addition of Mn of up to 2 atomic percent may improve the glass-forming ability of those alloys.
The Ni—Cr—Nb—P—B and Ni—Cr—Ta—P—B bulk-glass forming compositions in earlier disclosures demonstrate good glass forming ability (GFA), high strength and hardness, adequately high toughness and corrosion resistance. These attributes, combined with the low cost and abundance of elements Ni, Cr, P, and B, point to a potential for widespread engineering applications. However, elements Nb and Ta are relatively expensive. Moreover, Nb and Ta are not widely abundant such that their supply is limited and not necessarily secured enough for ultra-high volume manufacturing. The present disclosure provides metallic glass forming alloys that substitute Nb or Ta for more widely abundant and less expensive element(s), and without considerably degrading the bulk-glass forming ability and mechanical and chemical properties demonstrated by the Nb and Ta bearing alloys.